.svg) Map of South Tarawa and North Tarawa within Tarawa Atoll | |
 Map of the Gilbert Islands | |
  Tarawa Tarawa Show map of Kiribati Tarawa Tarawa (Micronesia) Show map of Micronesia Tarawa Tarawa (Oceania) Show map of Oceania Tarawa Tarawa (Pacific Ocean) Show map of Pacific Ocean | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location |  Kiribati |
| Coordinates | 1°20′N173°00′E / 1.333°N 173.000°E /1.333; 173.000 (Tarawa) |
| Archipelago | Gilbert Islands |
| Area | 31.02 km2 (11.98 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 3 m (10 ft) |
| Administration | |
Kiribati | |
| Island councils | Betio,North Tarawa,South Tarawa |
| Largest settlement | Betio |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 70,480 (2020) |
| Pop. density | 2,031.5/km2 (5261.6/sq mi) |
| Languages | Gilbertese |
| Ethnic groups | I-Kiribati (95.5%) |
| Additional information | |
| Time zone | |
Tarawa is anatoll and the capital of theRepublic of Kiribati,[1][2][3] in theMicronesia region of the central Pacific Ocean. It comprisesNorth Tarawa, which has 6,629 inhabitants and much in common with other more remote islands of theGilbert group, andSouth Tarawa, which has 56,388 inhabitants as of 2015[update], half of the country's total population.[4][5] The atoll was the site of theBattle of Tarawa duringWorld War II.
Tarawa is an oldGilbertese form forTe Rawa, meaning "The Passage" (of the Lagoon), named for the unusual large ship channel to the lagoon.[6] In thepopular etymology based onKiribati mythology,Nareau, the God-spider, distinguishedKarawa, the sky, fromMarawa, the Sea, fromTarawa, the land.
Tarawa has a largelagoon, 500 square kilometres (193 square miles) in total area, and a wide reef. The lagoon is widely open to the ocean, with a large ship pass. Although naturally abundant in fish andshellfish of all kinds, marine resources are being strained by the large and growing population. Drought is frequent, but in normal years rainfall is sufficient to maintainbreadfruit,papaya andbanana trees as well ascoconut andpandanus.
North Tarawa consists of a string ofislets fromBuariki in the north toBuota in the south. The islets are separated in places by wide channels that are best crossed at low tide, and there is a ferry service between Buota and Abatao.[7] Only Buota is connected by road to South Tarawa, via a bridge.
OnSouth Tarawa, the construction ofcauseways has now created a single strip of land fromBetio in the west to Tanaea in the northeast.[8] Previously, Benito, the site ofthe battle of Tarawa, was only 291 acres in size.[9]
Tarawa features atropical rainforest climate under theKöppen climate classification. The climate is pleasant from April to October, with predominant northeastern winds and stable temperatures close to 30 °C (86 °F). From November to March, western gales bring rain and occasionalcyclones.[2][10][11]
Precipitation varies significantly between islands. For example, the annual average is 3,000 mm (120 in) in the north and 500 mm (20 in) in the south of the Gilbert Islands.[10] Most of these islands are in the dry belt of the equatorial oceanic climatic zone and experience prolonged droughts.[11]
| Climate data forTarawa Airport (South Tarawa) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 35.0 (95.0) | 33.0 (91.4) | 35.0 (95.0) | 34.5 (94.1) | 34.5 (94.1) | 33.5 (92.3) | 34.5 (94.1) | 34.5 (94.1) | 34.5 (94.1) | 35.0 (95.0) | 35.0 (95.0) | 35.0 (95.0) | 35.0 (95.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.6 (87.1) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.8 (87.4) | 30.8 (87.4) | 30.9 (87.6) | 31.0 (87.8) | 31.1 (88.0) | 31.2 (88.2) | 31.3 (88.3) | 30.9 (87.6) | 30.9 (87.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 28.2 (82.8) | 28.1 (82.6) | 28.1 (82.6) | 28.2 (82.8) | 28.4 (83.1) | 28.3 (82.9) | 28.2 (82.8) | 28.3 (82.9) | 28.4 (83.1) | 28.6 (83.5) | 28.5 (83.3) | 28.2 (82.8) | 28.3 (82.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 25.3 (77.5) | 25.3 (77.5) | 25.2 (77.4) | 25.3 (77.5) | 25.5 (77.9) | 25.3 (77.5) | 25.1 (77.2) | 25.2 (77.4) | 25.3 (77.5) | 25.4 (77.7) | 25.4 (77.7) | 25.3 (77.5) | 25.3 (77.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 21.5 (70.7) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.5 (72.5) | 21.0 (69.8) | 21.0 (69.8) | 21.0 (69.8) | 21.5 (70.7) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.0 (71.6) | 22.5 (72.5) | 22.0 (71.6) | 21.0 (69.8) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 271 (10.7) | 218 (8.6) | 204 (8.0) | 184 (7.2) | 158 (6.2) | 155 (6.1) | 168 (6.6) | 138 (5.4) | 120 (4.7) | 110 (4.3) | 115 (4.5) | 212 (8.3) | 2,052 (80.8) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.3 mm) | 15 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 172 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 81 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 81 | 81 | 80 | 79 | 77 | 77 | 79 | 81 | 80 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 220.1 | 192.1 | 207.7 | 201.0 | 229.4 | 219.0 | 229.4 | 257.3 | 243.0 | 260.4 | 240.0 | 189.1 | 2,688.5 |
| Mean dailysunshine hours | 7.1 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 8.1 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 6.1 | 7.4 |
| Source:Deutscher Wetterdienst[12] | |||||||||||||
Tarawa atoll has three administrative subdivisions: Betio Town Council (or BTC), onBetio Islet;Teinainano Urban Council [it] (or TUC), from Bairiki to Tanaea; and Eutan Tarawa Council (or ETC), forNorth Tarawa orTarawa Ieta, consisting of all the islets on the east side from Buota northwards.[13] The meaning ofTe inainano inGilbertese language is "down of the mast", alluding to the sail-shape of the atoll[14]
South Tarawa hosts the capital of the Republic of Kiribati and was also the central headquarters of theGilbert and Ellice Islands since 1895. TheHouse of Assembly is in Ambo, and the State House is inBairiki. The offices of the various ministries of the government range from Betio at the south-west extreme to Nawerewere (on an easterly island in its chain), close toBonriki (International Airport) andTemwaiku. Settlements on North Tarawa includeBuariki,Abaokoro,Marenanuka andTaborio.
Four residentdiplomatic missions exist: the embassies of China (closed in 2003, re-opened in 2020) and Japan (opened in 2023), and the high commissions ofAustralia and New Zealand. The United Nations are also present in Kiribati, includingUNICEF,UNDP,UNFPA,UNOPS,UN Women,WHO andFAO.
In Kiribati mythology, Tarawa represents the primordial earth, existing before Nareau the spider separated the land, ocean, and sky. After naming the sky "karawa" and the ocean "marawa," Nareau referred to the rock upon which Riiki—another deity discovered by Nareau—stood when he raised the sky as "Tarawa." Following this, Nareau went on to create the remaining islands of Kiribati, as well as Samoa.
Gilbertese first settled these islands thousands of years ago, and there have been migrations to and fromGilbert Islands since antiquity.[15]
Evidence from a range of sources, includingcarbon dating and DNA analyses, confirms that theexploration of the Pacific included settlement of the Gilbert Islands by around 200 BC. The people of Tungaru (native name of the Gilbertese) are still excellent seafarers, capable of making ocean crossings in locally made vessels using traditional navigation techniques.[16]
Thomas Gilbert, captain of theEast India Company vesselCharlotte, was the first European to describe Tarawa, arriving on 20 June 1788. He did not land. He named it Matthew Island, after the owner of his shipCharlotte. He named the lagoon Charlotte Bay.[17] Gilbert's 1788 sketches survive.
In 1841, the island was mapped by theUS Exploring Expedition.[18]
For nine generations, the island was divided between two warring factions, the House of Auatubu and the House of Teabike, until in 1892HMS Royalist (1883) arrived, with CaptainEdward Davis proclaiming that the island was now aBritish Protectorate. This saved Auatubu from massacre; the day before, they had been badly defeated by Teabike. A very old lady, plaiting a sleeping mat twenty-five years later, described the situation:
"In those days death was on the right hand and on the left. If we wandered north, we were killed or raped. If we wandered south, we were killed or raped. If we returned alive from walking abroad, our husbands themselves killed us, for they said that we had gone forth seeking to be raped. That was indeed just, for a woman who disobeys her husband is a woman of no account, and it matters not how she dies. Yet how beautiful is life in our villages, now that there is no killing and war is no more... Behold my son and my grandson! These would have died with me that day at Nea if the warship had not arrived. And these"-she pointed out her great and great-great-grandchildren-"would never have been born. We live because the Government ofKuini Kabitoria brought peace to us, and here I sit plaiting this mat to be buried in because of the kindness of that woman, with all my generations around me to wrap me in it when I die."[19]
The aftermath of land claims and counter-claims between Auatubu and Teabike nevertheless caused high tension for years afterwards.[20]
Charles Richard Swayne, the firstResident Commissioner, decided to install the central headquarters of theGilbert and Ellice Islandsprotectorate in Tarawa in 1895.[21] Tarawa Post Office opened on 1 January 1911.[22]
SirArthur Grimble was a cadet administrative officer based at Tarawa (1913–1919).[23] He became Resident Commissioner of the Gilbert and Ellice Islands colony in 1926.[24]
DuringWorld War II, Tarawa wasoccupied by the Japanese, and beginning on 20 November 1943 it was the scene of the bloodyBattle of Tarawa. On that dayU.S. Marines landed on Tarawa and fought Japanese Marines of theSpecial Naval Landing Forces occupying entrenched positions on the atoll. The Marines captured the island after 76 hours of intense fighting that killed 6,000 people in total.
The fierce fighting was the subject of a documentary film produced by the Combat Photographers of the Second Marine Division entitledWith the Marines at Tarawa. It was released in March 1944 at the insistence ofPresident Roosevelt. It became the first time many Americans viewed American servicemen dead on film.[citation needed]. The US builtbases on the Island.
The Kiribati Government began a road restoration project funded in part by theWorld Bank in 2014 to re-surface the main road from Betio in the west to Bonriki in the east,[25] upgrading the main road that transits Tarawa from a dirt road.
Being now abreast of this island, the extremity ending in a beautiful clump of trees, I hauled up to look at the bay. It appeared to be safe and commodious, sheltered by a long reef running parallel with the island, with two large inlets into the bay. The reef is about ¾ of a mile from the beach, and has several small islands which appear like flower pots.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
